Nucleosomal structure of undamaged DNA regions suppresses the non-specific DNA binding of the XPC complex

The XPC protein complex is a DNA damage detector of human nucleotide excision repair (NER). Although the XPC complex specifically binds to certain damaged sites, it also binds to undamaged DNA in a non-specific manner. The addition of a large excess of undamaged naked DNA competitively inhibited the specific binding of the XPC complex to (6-4) photoproducts and the NER dual incision step in cell-free extracts. In contrast, the addition of undamaged nucleosomal DNA as a competitor suppressed both of these inhibitory effects. Although nucleosomes positioned on the damaged site inhibited the binding of the XPC complex, the presence of nucleosomes in undamaged DNA regions may help specific binding of the XPC complex to damaged sites by excluding its non-specific binding to undamaged DNA regions.